Seattle HD Locals

Did the installer point your dish at the peak of the wobble of E5 or just peaked it at the highest signal level he could get?

I waited until the the top of the cycle, when I was getting the max signal I ever get, then I peaked the dish and gained about 10-12 more points than the higest peak I ever typically received. Then I locked it down and came back in and checked it out. On average, I was getting 8-10 points higher than I had previously been getting on each TP on E5. TP27 was the exception, which was still an issue, as it would drop as low as 5 (on the revised meter), but everything else pretty much stays in the 35-55 range (new scale), which I can't complain about really.

That's hard to say as far as the timing of the point. I do remember that the meter started to dip as the guys were coming down off the roof. Maybe you hit on something though. The installer did say that the majority of installs were with the 24 and to his knowledge they were all working fine. Could be this guy was better at it than the guy that dish sent out to do the 24 (as I recall did not have that much confidence in that guys ability and after he left I reaimed with just the 622 meter and got better results).

I guess the main thing is we are both doing good on 129 now. :D That's been a long tough frustrating fight and really deserves mention. Maybe then when they add KCPQ-HD this thread will finally get the rest it has so long deserved. Won't it be nice to concentrate on things like picture resolution and national HD additions?
 
Did the installer point your dish at the peak of the wobble of E5 or just peaked it at the highest signal level he could get?

I waited until the the top of the cycle, when I was getting the max signal I ever get, then I peaked the dish and gained about 10-12 more points than the higest peak I ever typically received. Then I locked it down and came back in and checked it out. On average, I was getting 8-10 points higher than I had previously been getting on each TP on E5. TP27 was the exception, which was still an issue, as it would drop as low as 5 (on the revised meter), but everything else pretty much stays in the 35-55 range (new scale), which I can't complain about really.

Hey Joe, I think that the increase you observed was do to something else. Satellite 129 is wobbling so every 15-20 mins the beam moves away from the NW for about a min, but 129's location (relative to us) stays the same. The Satellite would have to move quite a ways out of its position before it would need a repositioning of the dish. At 22,000+ miles away even a mile movement would probably be less than 1/100 degree.

Brad
 
Hi Brad,

Before I re-peaked it, I was still getting signal loss on most of the channels on 129 on average of once an hour. After I took the extra time to wait until the 20-minute wobble cycle was at it's peak, where I was getting the max signal I get, I then adjusted my 24" dish (using TP11, probably should've used 27 instead) and locked it down when I was getting numbers as much as 8-10 points higher than I had been getting. It took about an hour of painstaking effort and careful adjusting to get this right, but it has paid off because since then, I don't get anywhere near the number of signal drops or the length of duration that I used to before I took the care to repeak it.

Chuck is right, the main thing is that we're both getting 129 reception that we can live with and find to be an acceptable level of service now. :)
 
Those of you who can't get KCPQ-HD OTA didn't miss much yesterday, BTW. They must not have had HD cameras at the game in AZ b/c it was upconverted. Confirmed OTA and on Comcast. Didn't see the pregame, but I'm guessing we would have seen "Fox Widescreen" instead of FoxHD. Blah. And double blah for the fumble at the end!!! Argh.

Moving forward, while it looks like FOX's games are only updated through 10/14, we're good at least until then, to have OTA HD:

HD Sports Guide - NFL in HDTV
 
I just want to make sure because as I get older my brain gets fuzzier. There is no connection between Fox and Tribune? Neither party gives a rip about the other. Correct?
 
That's right - local stations change network affiliation on a (somewhat) regular basis. The Tribune Co. happens to own KCPQ as a FOX station, but most of their other stations around the country are *not* FOX affiliates. Go to the tribune.com home page and look under Broadcast Sites - it's mostly The CW with a few FOX and one ABC in there.
 
I signed up for DTV last night and have a scheduled install of 10/24. My lease with Dish is up in November and this seems to be a good time to make the move if ever at all. DTV's expanded HD offerings and Dish's lack of response has led me on a different path. It helps that DTV is changing ownership. They do seem to being doing things right now.

I'm only mentioning this because this thread has lasted such a long time and because we posters here have shared these issues for so long.

I wish everyone here the best and of course I hope that you get KCPQ soon!
 
Good Luck 2 U too

I signed up for DTV last night and have a scheduled install of 10/24. My lease with Dish is up in November and this seems to be a good time to make the move if ever at all. DTV's expanded HD offerings and Dish's lack of response has led me on a different path. It helps that DTV is changing ownership. They do seem to being doing things right now.

I'm only mentioning this because this thread has lasted such a long time and because we posters here have shared these issues for so long.

I wish everyone here the best and of course I hope that you get KCPQ soon!

Tell us how the other side is working. I hope you are getting their HR 20 so you can compare it to the 622. And it is somewhat understandable so that you can get KCPQ. It has been a long standing BS battle between Tribune & E*. E* carries the big 4 where ever they have LIL the trib wants E* to carry all of their stations in any market where they have a station. As was mentioned by kstile only a few of tribs stations are in that category.
 
Tell us how the other side is working. I hope you are getting their HR 20 so you can compare it to the 622. And it is somewhat understandable so that you can get KCPQ. It has been a long standing BS battle between Tribune & E*. E* carries the big 4 where ever they have LIL the trib wants E* to carry all of their stations in any market where they have a station. As was mentioned by kstile only a few of tribs stations are in that category.

Yes, I'm getting the HR20. I really do like the 622 and that was one of the larger barriers in making the change. Will give as good an unbiased comparison as I can as well as the PQ.
 
So here we are in mid October and still not even a hint that KCPQ Fox will be available in HD to Western Washington subscribers. Football season is nearing the halfway point and the World Series is next week. With all the other posts debating on whether to jump ship or not, all I really want is this one channel. The rest I can wait for. The most irritating corporate trait of Dish is that they refuse to even acknowledge the issue. A simple "be patient it'll be there" would be OK. Walls of silence- not so good. Do we just give up? ceo doesn't respond anymore. Tribune has said it's in Dish's court. Ugh.
 
Think we've seen the worst of the storm up here in the convergence zone. Knocked down branches and the stop sign at the end of the street. Street light was out at the main arterial but somehow no power loss at the house! Last summer crews trimmed back the trees where the damage to lines occurred repeatedly last few years. They did that right after I connected to natural gas. So if I were an egomaniac I could claim credit. :)
 
Is there any city that dish offers that carries Fox HD where Seahawks is the local team? I was thinking possibly Portland but I am not sure if I can reach it's signal. Or maybe Anchorage but I don't think they broadcast FOX HD yet.
 
Is there any city that dish offers that carries Fox HD where Seahawks is the local team? I was thinking possibly Portland but I am not sure if I can reach it's signal. Or maybe Anchorage but I don't think they broadcast FOX HD yet.

Yes, Portland does show the Seahawks and in HD. The footprint for Portland covers most of Western Washington (reaches just south of Bellingham and with the exception of parts parts to the west and north of the Olympic Penninsula.) The Portland footprint is a much better fit for most of the area west of the Cascades than Spokane which also carries the Seahawks. The only drawback on Portland that I have seen is one game early in the season when they failed to cut from a game that was running over to show the start of the Seahawks game. They picked the Hawks game up between 1-2 minutes of the start.

Here is a map showing the outlines of each footprint nationwide.

http://ekb.dbstalk.com/pictures/echo10contourcloseup.gif
 
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